Viya Dev just wants funding for her dreams. But the path to it doesn’t seem as easy as it appears. Will she take it?

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Mumbai

Dharam Palace was quite an interesting building. Its corridor served as a terrace, offering an awesome view of Marine Drive and the Arabian Sea. Viya stopped to enjoy the view for a few minutes before she entered Nimesh Jain’s office. Inscribed in gold letters on a walnut-finished wooden plank was his company’s name: Pearl Finance and Investments Private Limited.

She pushed the door open. She could see three persons seated in a ‘U’. There was a plain-looking two-seater sofa next to them for visitors. The person facing the door half-smiled when he saw her enter.

“Ms Viya Dev?” he asked politely.

“Yes.” It felt strangely reassuring to be expected. She smiled.

“Sir is on his way. He called, and asked you to wait.”

“Sure.” She stepped closer to the sofa to sit.

“No madame, he asked you to wait in his room.” He rose and led her to a polished wooden door, that opened into a large room. Directly facing the door were shelves, filled with books and trophies. At the far end on her right was an imposing desk, with chairman’s chair behind it. Three chairs were placed opposite the desk. Placed on the left, next to the shelves were two sofas, a glass table in the middle, and three side tables. She took a seat on the sofa facing the door, crossing her legs.

It was a typical self-employed professional’s corner office set-up. The wall behind the desk and the one adjacent to it were covered with polished wooden panels. Several certificates hung on them, including one from Chartered Accountants Institute proclaiming Nimesh Jain as a CA. Several pictures adorned the wall as well. There was an oversized picture of a man with a garland around it, which she figured must be his father. She assumed the man in the other pictures was Nimesh. In a few, he posed with other people, and in others, he was seen accepting awards.

She waited, looking around. It was quiet, and it felt slightly eerie, creating in her mind some apprehension.

Her thoughts went back to both her co-founders concern about meeting Nimesh in his office. The three of them had met a little earlier inside Westside café on Hughes Road, a stone’s throw from Nimesh’s office. 

She’d bought herself traditional clothes from Westside, choosing a lemon-colored kurta and a black churidar, along with a deep blue dupatta. She changed into her new clothes once she paid for her shopping. Mira and Vineet said they didn’t recognize her till she was a foot or two from them.

Viya gave them the background.

“Mishi said he has a roving eye, and he’s a bit of a creep. She asked me to be careful.”

Vineet expressed serious reservations, and Mira didn’t like the idea.

“Hey, you guys react as if he rapes every woman he meets! It takes all types to make the world. I’m only interested in funding.”

“But why did he insist you come alone… sounds creepy, even though you are meeting him in the afternoon?” asked Vineet, agitated.

“I agree,” Mira agreed.

“I guess we don’t have a choice at this point except to give it a fair shot. Yet, I’m sure I can handle him. I’ve handled many advances. I doubt this could be any worse,” she said smugly.

But can I handle his advances?

To divert her attention, she opened LinkedIn and clicked on Nimesh’s notification that invited her to connect with him. She went through his profile details. He had done his Chartered Accountancy from Ahmedabad in 1996, which made him around 45-years-old, she calculated. He practiced chartered accountancy for 10 years before starting Pearl Finance and Investments, where he was the Managing Director. The company’s website address wasn’t mentioned. She began looking through his 500+ connections. Though there were no common connections between them but she discovered several well-known names – lawyers, mutual fund company CEOs, bankers, and partners with venture capital companies.

She saw a notification pop up. Glen wanted her to recommend him. For his hospitality? she laughed. She remembered the previous night at Glen’s house. She smiled. When he left for office this morning, he extended her a blanket invitation to stay over whenever she liked. She was grateful to him for letting her stay over at his house over three past three nights. Only she knew how broke she was.

Later, when she checked her mail, she saw one from Nimesh Jain. He wanted to meet her later in the afternoon. He’d shared the address. Wow! This is fast!

She had confirmed, asking if he wanted to meet co-founders as well?

She messaged Mishi: ‘Nimesh Jain replied, wants to meet in his office today. Alone.’

Continue reading for free on the Juggernaut app on 27th December 2021, at 7pm.